Premier League stars say football is fixed

Premier League stars say football is fixed

Debrecen’s Vukasin Poleksic tried and failed to fix a game against Liverpool

I’ve had players call me and tell me to bet on the outcome of a match, especially at the end of the season in League Two or the Conference

Unnamed League Two player

In a survey of 100 pros, including 11 from the Premier League, 14% said they believed games were rigged to profit from the £650billion-a-year Far East gambling markets.

Even non-league matches have been targeted, according to the players.

One League Two defender said: “It goes on, I’m telling you.

“I’ve had players call me and tell me to bet on the outcome of a match, especially at the end of the season in League Two or the Conference.

“I’ve never been approached myself, but I know it goes on.”

Another League Two defender said: “I was playing in non-league football and the chairman was into it and everything.

“We would be told to throw a game and everyone lumped into it.’’

The shock revelations come from a players’ poll in FourFourTwo magazine which surveyed 11 Premier League players, 29 from the Championship, 18 from League One, 31 from League Two and 11 from the Scottish Premier League.

It follows claims by Europol, the EU law enforcement agency, that 425 match and club officials, players and serious criminals, from more than 15 countries, have been involved in bids to fix games by a Singapore crime gang.

They are reported to have identified Liverpool’s 2009 victory over Hungarian side Debrecen at Anfield as one of 380 matches worldwide to have been targeted by a Far Eastern betting ring.

Debrecen’s goalkeeper, Vukasin Poleksic, 30, was allegedly paid to try to ensure there were more than two goals in the match. If so, he failed as Liverpool won 1-0.

There is no suggestion by Europol that Liverpool, nor any other English club, was involved in the scam.

But according to the survey, many players think British football has been blighted by rigged games.

The Football Association insists it is “not aware of any credible reports” of fixing in England.